Asia’h Epperson started tonight by telling us about an embarassing moment when she was a movie extra and roller skated into a movie light. Then she sang “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”. I thought she sounded okay, but I didn’t think she brought anything unique to the song (a recurring complaint I have with this year’s girls, overall, by the way). Randy and Paula liked it. Simon said she was a second rate Whitney but still good enough for the Top 12.

Next up was Kady Malloy. Her most embarassing moment was when she had a bad audition for a high school talent show and followed it up by tripping over the microphone, bringing the speaker system crashing down. Her performance of “Who Wants to Live Forever”, on the other hand, did NOT bring the house down. All I could say was “does she WANT to go home?” My husband said it was boring. Worse, neither one of us could recognize what song she was singing until she hit the chorus, and we both LIKE Queen. Randy had mixed feelings on the song, Paula liked it, and Simon said it was better than last week (agreed), but that she still sings like a robot (agreed) and has a tendency to be gloomy (agreed).

Only Amanda Overmeyer could have burned down her back porch, pool and melted the side of her house and consider it only “embarassing”. I thought last week’s performance might be one of her most embarassing moments. This week she sang “I Hate Myself for Loving You”, and it was quite good. If she continues on, she’s going to have to be so careful with what song choices she makes. She can’t sing just anything and pull it off. All the judges liked it, as well– even Simon, who pronounced it “fantastic”.

I couldn’t really understand all of Carly Smithson’s embarassing story, but it was something about getting her leg stuck in a railing and a drunk friend greasing her up to get her out. Sorry, but between the Irish accent and the two year old child asking me questions, that was all I got. Carly sang “I Drove All Night”. I thought it was one of her better performances, but I have to say those were one of the worst pair of pants I’ve ever seen. Randy and Paula loved it (big surprise), but Simon still felt she’d picked the wrong song. By the way, prior to tonight, I didn’t know Celine Dion had ever made a version of the song, or that there WAS a version other than Cyndi Lauper’s. Is there any song Celine Dion HASN’T sung?

Kristy Lee Cook’s embarassing moment (or perhaps we should say time period) was definitely bizarre. When she was seven (I orginally thought she said seven years ago, which really would have been embarassing, since she was 17, at the time), she lived as a dog, even drinking out of a doggie water dish. Tonight she sang “Faithfully”. I had two complaints about her performance. One, she needs to open her eyes. Two, even though the song had a “country influence” (as Simon put it), I thought she could have gone farther with that. I thought it was good but could have been great if she had risked REALLY making it country. Randy and Paula liked it. Simon said it was good but that she was still forgettable.

Ramiele Malubay once left a picture for a boy and then went across the street to watch his reaction when he got it. Not only did he laugh, but he showed it to his mother, who also laughed. Ramiele sang “Against All Odds”. I liked it. She played around a bit with the notes and gave it a little bit of a unique interpretation. Over all, I thought it was one of her best performances. Randy had mixed feelings about the song, Paula liked it and Simon thought it was old-fashioned and predictable. Then he uttered one of my favorite critiques “I wasn’t jumping out of my chair”. Again, I said this last year. I would LOVE, just once, to Simon actually jump out of his chair. I think it would almost be worth money.

Brooke White is so adorable that even her embarassing moments are adorable. When she was 12 or 13, she threw herself on the back of a man she thought was her Dad as she was leaving church. Only when he turned around did she realize it wasn’t her Dad. Oops. They had announced before the commercial that she would be singing “Love is a Battlefield”, and I thought that was possibly the worst song choice she could have picked. But it turned out that she sang an accoustic version that was unique, interesting and ROCKED! I really think she is the most unique of the girls– well, at least the most unique of the girls who can consistently turn in a good performance. Randy said, and I absolutely could not believe this, “you didn’t bring anything new to the song”. WHAT?? Has he never HEARD the original version. Paula was also less than enthusiastic, saying she should have started accoustic, then brought in the band. WHAT?? No!! Did you not get what she was doing at all? Are you insane? Don’t answer that. Only Simon was the voice of sanity, pointing out that it only worked because she didn’t use the band because the rock version would have been all wrong for her and that this was an original take on the song. Thank you very much Mr. Sanity.

Syesha Mercado closed the night with her truly hilarious embarassing story. She wrote a guy a note saying she liked him in elementary school. With the note, she included a piece of gum. The guy told the teacher on her AND ate her gum! What a prince! Syesha sang a song that never fails to make me furious, the cheater’s anthem “Saving All My Love For You”. I thought it was a good, albeit predictable, performance. That’s exactly what I wrote in my notes, which was funny because Simon said, and I quote, that it was “predictable but good”. Randy and Paula loved it. Yawn.

So, that’s it for the top 16. From here on out, the guys and the girls will be combined and only one goes home each week. After we make it through tomorrow night’s elimination anyway. Oh, and by the way, in case you didn’t hear– Blake Lewis will be singing on the show tomorrow night.

Here’s my order of favorites for the girls before I go:

1. Brooke White
2. Amanda Overmeyer
3. Asia’h Epperson
4. Carly Smithson
5. Ramiele Malubay
6. Syesha Mercado
7. Kristy Lee Cook
8. Kady Malloy

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